


The Master of Time

by Zeible



Series: The Gods Between Us [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aromantic Original Character, Asexual Original Character, Autistic Original Character, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Original Character(s), POV First Person, POV Multiple, Polyamory, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23478733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeible/pseuds/Zeible
Summary: The Spring after the defeat of Gaea, Will is hoping to enjoy a couple of peaceful months with his boyfriend now that life has settled down. Will doesnt get the chance to relax when three unusual demigods are found outside of Camp Half-Blood. They seem to know Nico- despite him not knowing them. Their impossible godly heritage combined with the inconsistencies of their story leads them on a quest to save their friends (AGAIN) from a revenge seeking enemy with a mastery over time.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Gods Between Us [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689100
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. We Check Out a Creepy Tomb, Because that's Always a Good Idea, Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So this is my first stab at Percy Jackson fanfiction, despite my having been a fan since um...2006? When did the first book come out?
> 
> I love the Percy Jackson books and their spinoffs, as well as Heroes of Olympus. I love the wit, the charm, the world building, and lots of little things. However, speaking as a Hellenic pagan myself, there were lots of things I found wanting. Some interpretations of some of the gods, the lack of queer female characters, that kind of thing. Part of me wanted to just write a F/F story featuring any two of the many wonderful girls in the series, but instead I got to thinking.
> 
> "Why not make some of my own?"
> 
> So I did!And they're all in this story. I try my best to keep things balanced, though. I don't want my OCs hogging all the spotlight, and most of this story is told from the POV of canon characters. 
> 
> While I was at it, I felt like adding in a few of my usual touches (Autistic lead is practically a cliche of mine at this point) and just having fun with this world. I also decided to stick with the 'official' timeline that the fine folks at the Wiki put together, so this story is firmly set in 2011...with some period appropriate attitudes from some of the characters. (I know that doesn't feel that long ago to a lot of you, but speaking as a trans woman that decade made a pretty big difference in a lot of ways.)
> 
> Don't take this as being an attack or some kind of deconstruction of the Half-Blood Verse. I love the series, and the changes I make are just my idea of what I'd want in a good story. If you like them, that's great! If you don't that's understandable. Please, tell me what you thought whether you loved this or hated it. (Though if your issue is with the trans main character I've added, I'd rather you kept that to yourself). 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy The Master of Time, I put a lot of work and love into this.

_May 7_ _th_ _, 2011_

Will Solace, son of Apollo. Today I’m starting a diary. Because it’s been a crazy day and I think it’s about time I started logging it and stuff. Everyone else does it- though for some reason Nico does all his in third person. I guess that makes sense. He’s still very distant with his own feelings, very uncomfortable with them. I can’t say I blame him.

Me, though? I’m too much like my old man. I can’t help but talk about myself.

So it had been a fairly ordinary Spring morning, so far. We’d enjoyed the nice peaceful Autumn and Winter after Gaea was destroyed, and Spring had been similarly quiet. Some odd things had apparently gone down with my dad, but apparently that was mostly sorted now- something about Roman Emperors and a big python named, um, Python.

We had returned to camp a little early. It was late May, and school was wrapping up for most of us. I heard some vague murmurings about what Percy and Annabeth were up to but lately, those two had been _really_ quiet. Busy with something else, I don’t know.

So when Chiron tells us there’s something unusual going on that Argus ‘sensed’ (Whatever that means) not far west of Camp Half-Blood, that means he’s gotta send some heroes on it and he picks the only child of the Big Three currently in the camp. Technically he picked _me_ of course, but Nico and me are a package deal. There had been a _disturbance_ , as he put it. I really hate the way Chiron says _disturbance_. It’s kinda, you know... disturbing.

(Wow Will, you really are the son of the God of Poetry.)

Anyway so we needed to get a third member since it’s a lucky number, even if this whole thing looked like it was going to be a milk run. Since she happened to be visiting at the time, I decided to pick the only other person in camp more obviously gay than me; Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, Praetor of Camp Jupiter, who’d been visiting that day.

Yeah I know, she’s not out of the closet, but seriously? The way she looks at Thalia whenever she comes by to visit? Practically undressing Piper with her eyes? Come on, girl. You’re not being very subtle.

Ugh, that was rude. Like, really unfair of me. If she doesn’t want to be out, she doesn’t have to be out. Just reminds me of Nico, I guess, before he came out. Probably quietly suffering, if she’s even really aware of it.

Gods I hope no-one else reads these.

Anyway, this gay trio of ours made our way out of camp, packed for a week long trip just in case something went horribly wrong (It usually does). We didn’t really have a good idea of our destination, but eventually Nico got a general sense of something “underworld-y”, and that seemed like a safe bet. After passing by a few monsters (I heroically sat in the back and hid while my super-powered boyfriend and Reyna utterly demolished them. I’m a lover, not a fighter.)

What we found was a weird, creepy ruin made entirely out of black stones. It looked like a classic Greek temple in general, with a bunch of columns all around a smaller building in the middle. All along the edges of the entablature was this frieze, depicting weird and horrific monsters none of us recognized. It was in the middle of a clearing in the woods _just_ close enough to camp that I was confused how no-one had ever found it before. Nico was suspicious, too.

“It’s definitely of the Underworld, but I don’t know _where_. It’s got this dark vibe I just can’t place. I really don’t know what’s inside.”

Reyna stepped up to the entrance, a big door made of wrought iron. “There’s only one way to find out.” She brandished her sword, then turned to Nico.

“Do you think you can pull the door down? I don’t see any handles, and I really don’t think we have the tools to pull it open ourselves.”

“Controlling metal is more Hazel’s thing...but I can give it a try, at least.” He reached out with his hands, and I could _feel_ him strain. I hated seeing him exert himself using his Underworld powers; last summer he’d nearly killed himself several times over just trying to move himself from place to place with his shadow travel. He’d recovered since then though, and was being a lot more careful with how he used his more chthonic abilities.

It clearly took him some effort, but he was able to get the big, heavy door to swing open just wide enough for us to squeeze through. He let out an audible sigh when he was done.

“That’s Stygian Iron…I don’t know how so much of it got up here. That stuff’s hard to find even in the Underworld.” I saw him stagger slightly from the effort.

“Are you alright?” Reyna asked him, looking and sounding concerned.

“I’m fine, yeah, I just need a minute.”

Reyna nodded. “I’ll scout it out, you take a moment to catch your breath.” She headed over to the door and gingerly began approaching it.

I walked over to Nico and held him gently. He let out a legit _sigh_ while leaning into me. He is just the cutest freaking thing in the world, sometimes. Reyna had her back turned, so I felt comfortable giving him a peck on the cheek. I don’t think she noticed.

I knew she didn’t have a problem with us, but Nico doesn’t like PDA so I try to be considerate, you know? He smiled, and then gently pulled out of the hug. The two of us caught up with Reyna before she could even notice we’d fallen behind, and we all slipped into the temple.

The place was almost pitch-black inside, except for the light of the door we’d just opened. There were a lot of unlit torches though, and when we stepped inside they all blazed to life with green fire- probably Greek fire.

“Just like the torches outside Hades cabin,” I noted, not really liking how we all looked bathed in green light. “Think it’s connected to your father?”

Nico shook his head. “Not enough skulls to be my dad’s.” He said it like he was serious, and honestly I’m not sure it was a joke. Hades is seriously goth, even for a death god.

Aside from the torches, the only thing inside the room was another, smaller section of the building. It was kind like the inner chamber of the Parthenon, though I’d never been there so I don’t know if it was really the same kind of layout. This one had a simple wooden door with an actual handle.

Reyna, ever paranoid, pulled at it with her Imperial Gold sword instead of using her hands. It was _really_ awkward physically for her, but she managed it just fine and pulled the door open. That’s when things got weird.

“Oh good,” said a voice, which I couldn’t really identify as male or female, “Light. From a door...who’s out there?”

Reyna turned and looked at us, a look on her face like ‘Any ideas?’. Nico and I practically shrugged in unison.

“Hello?” Another voice, this one definitely female called out. Whoever she was, she had a British accent, which I found distinctly weird, even in this particularly weird situation. “Are you from Camp Half-Blood?”

“Yes,” Reyna said cautiously, “Though I am from Camp Jupiter. I am Praetor Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, and I come with Nico di Angelo and Will Solace.”

There was a pause, and the sound of some people murmuring. “Alright, I recognize exactly one of those names,” the androgynous voice from before called out, “And I don’t remember a Praetor named Reyna.”

“Can we come out, please?” Another voice, this one definitely male called out. He sounded _really_ annoyed with the whole situation. I was starting to feel the same way. I was expecting some kind of eldritch horrors with this creepy temple and instead it was looking more like we’d just found some campers that got lost. Not that I _wanted_ to fight Eldritch Horrors, mind you, I just want a little consistency.

Reyna seemed to consider that, and she and Nico had some kind of telepathic conversation or something. That or they’ve mastered the language of significant eyebrow movements, a tongue I am sadly not fluent in.

“Yes, but slowly, and keep your hands where we can see them.” Reyna finally said, backing away from the door.

There was the sound of footsteps and something scraping against the stone floor. The door swung open, and out stepped three people I’d never seen before.

One of them, probably the girl I’d heard, was this gorgeous black girl wearing what looked like a tasteful two-piece teal dresskini with a floral print. Her long, flowing locks of curly honey-brown colored hair ran down almost to her waist. She was _amazingly_ curvy, and it definitely wasn’t helping that the skirt had a slit that ran up to her thigh.

The next one was the guy I’d heard, and I think I could tell why he was annoyed. He was in a wheelchair, and squinting his grey eyes to adjust to the comparatively bright light. He was pretty handsome, olive-skinned with curly dark hair. Some kind of Mediterranean ancestry, I was betting, though I couldn’t begin to guess from where. His clothes were...well, I have no idea who makes what kind of suits, but he looked like he was wearing some kind of designer suit designed to look good while sitting down.

The last one was...I didn’t really know, at first. I thought at first they had to be a guy, but something about their body language screamed ‘girl’. They were shorter than the (other?) girl and taller than the (other?) guy, though it was admittedly hard to tell since he was in a wheelchair. Their white button down shirt popped at the color combined with black slacks and a black sports coat made them look like some kind of model, and they _definitely_ had the looks for it in my opinion. Piercing blue eyes, pale skin with an olive undertone like Nico’s, dark brown hair in a stylish undercut all carefully tousled. At their side, they had a long saber in a scabbard. It didn’t look like any Greek sword I’d ever seen, but I got the feeling it could shred monsters all the same.

I know I made it sound like I just stood there staring at these gorgeous strangers, but there’s a reason for that. Namely, I was just standing there staring at them. I wasn’t alone, either; Nico and Reyna looked just as confused to see them, and they collectively looked just as confused to see us.

The androgynous person in the middle was the one to break the silence. “...Nico? Nico is that you? You look _terrible_ , what happened?”

Nico cocked his head in confusion, and then said what Reyna and I were probably both thinking. “How do you know my name? I have no idea who you are!”

They looked over at me, then at Reyna. “Ok, something screwy is _definitely_ going on here. Mist trick, Monsters in disguise...nope, not making any sense.”

The guy in the wheelchair looked up at her. “This the first time I’ve _ever_ heard you admit something didn’t make sense.”

The androgyne (Hey, it’s a word I swear) shrugged. “It’s not the first time I’ve said it, surely. Definitely said it a lot when we were in Tartarus.” She gave Nico a significant look, as if she was expecting some flash of recognition on his face.

He just narrowed his eyes. “Really? You’ve been to Tartarus? Funny how I never _heard_ about it.” I could hear the steel in his voice. He didn’t trust them. He thought this was some kind of trick.

To my surprise, the girl in the dresskini definitely picked up on the tension and stepped forward. She walked right up to Reyna and extended a hand. I’m guessing she figured Reyna was in charge, which admittedly is a pretty safe bet.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot there,” she said, showing a million-dollar smile, “I’m Katrina Roman, Daughter of Amphitrite. What’s your name?”

The name didn’t ring a bell for me- or for Reyna, apparently- but I could see Nico tense up. He stepped closer to me, and leaned up while Reyna cautiously shook the girl’s hand and told her her name.

“Amphitrite is Poseidon’s wife,” he said conspiratorially, “I think I’d know if Percy had a step-sister.”

“You know he doesn’t have to tell us everything. Maybe she’s just really private?”

“We would’ve _seen_ her before. It’s not like there’s any _other_ children of Amphitrite running around, and I feel like Poseidon’s wife cheating on him would be kind of a big deal.”

I felt the urge to remind him that Poseidon had cheated on Amphitrite too, and that had been a _much_ bigger deal, but I let it slide. Nico wasn’t wrong that wives cheating on their husbands mattered a lot more to Greek gods than the reverse. I didn’t have to _like_ it, but it was how things were.

After Reyna and the girl, Katrina, had exchanged pleasantries, Nico stepped up.

“Ok, I want the rest of your names, and a reason not to stab you and test if you’re Monsters.”

I wanted to shout at him, but before I could the person with the saber laughed like a supervillain and stepped forward.

“Alright, fine, ‘Nico’. I’m Elektra Crane, also known as your unofficial big sister. I’m the current Strategos of Camp Half-Blood, Legata of the Auxilia Graeca, and the Slayer of Hyperion.”

So her name was Elektra, probably a girl then. That was one thing that made sense...and a whole lot of other things that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. I was pretty sure no Hero had slain Hyperion, I didn’t know what a Strategos or a Legata was, but the first word did sound vaguely familiar to me, mostly because it sounded like ‘Strategy’. Was it some kind of Roman military rank?

She smirked. “Oh and I knew about your crush on a certain cute blonde boy before everyone else did.”

There was a brief, incredibly awkward silence. For my part, I just stood there feeling _really_ uncomfortable. Like, Thanksgiving with homophobic cousin levels of uncomfortable awkwardness. The girl called Elektra gradually seemed to pick up on that, and then suddenly revelation dawned on her face.

“Guys, I think I know what the problem is!”

Unfortunately, Reyna and Nico just seemed that much more tense as a result. Before I even knew what was happening, everything went right to Tartarus. “Yeah, I think it’s _you_!” Nico said, shouting out as he unleashed a wave of darkness at the girl with the sword.

To my surprise, she almost _effortlessly_ leapt aside, and let the darkness disintegrate the wall behind her. I swear I heard her _sigh_ in annoyance as she did so.

“Isa, take cover and hold fire until I give the signal! Kat and I can handle these losers.”

The guy in the wheelchair pressed a button, and before I knew what was happening the chair unfolded some kind of specially concealed portable wall-looking things that had to have been made out of some kind of carbon nanotubing or _something_. It looked like the kind of out-there project even Hephaestus cabin would dismiss as impractical.

Reyna seemed like she was trying to intercept it or test her edge against the material, but the girl in the dresskini pulled out a hairpin. It turned into a three-pronged trident (Wow she really _was_ Poseidon’s step daughter) and pointed it squarely at Reyna. Before she could even react, the girl shouted out something that sounded like the Ancient Greek for ‘Salt Water’.

A torrent of water shot out of the thing and sent Reyna flying into the wall across the room. It _cra_ _c_ _ked_ behind her, and I winced at how much it must’ve hurt. Katrina was visibly panting with the effort of it, and I saw her stumble slightly to her knees.

“Katrina, what did I tell you about relying on that thing!” The brunette girl called out. In a single fluid motion, she pulled out a silvery, sparkly saber and flew towards Nico. I don’t mean ‘ran really fast’, and I don’t even mean ‘jumped as though she was flying’. I mean I could _feel_ a gust of wind pick her up and carry her towards my boyfriend and slash at him.

To my relief, Nico managed to parry it...but only the first blow. Immediately after she pulled a really sick midair feint and then managed to catch his Stygian Iron sword against hers and tore it out of his hand. For a single terrifying moment I thought she was going to stab him, but instead she just kicked him to the floor and straddled him, pinning him to the floor and holding the sword up. I was as confused in that moment as I was furious; Nico was one of the strongest demigods I knew, despite his scrawny figure. If she was keeping him pinned, she’d have to be _crazy_ strong, but the only Demigods I knew like that were Jason Grace and Percy Jackson.

“Will Solace, right?” She said, not turning to look at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her, and started reaching for my bow. If I pulled it right, I could maybe knock the sword out of her hand. Darkly, I also thought I should probably just take the chance to shoot her in the back before she could hurt Nico.

“Alale!” She called out, which was definitely not something I recognized. The way she said it it sounded like she was doing a Xena impression.

As I did, I felt something heavy and hard suddenly slam into the side of my head, and I fell to the ground. Another something flew out of nowhere and with a _pop_ I found myself wrapped up in some kind of cables. When I looked up, I saw the guy in the wheelchair had lowered his weird screen things and was leveling a crossbow at me. I guessed that whatever he just hit me with had knocked me over and then wrapped me up in this netting.

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and sighed, before returning her gaze to Nico.

“Look,” she said, sounding _really_ annoyed, “I don’t know who two of you are, and the one I _do_ recognize looks like he’s spent a week in whatever the inverse of a tanning booth is. I don’t want to hurt any of you, even if I’m _really_ not sure you’re the Nico di Angelo I’m friends with.”

“I don’t know you! You can’t possibly be my friend!” Nico practically spat it out, and I found myself wondering where all this anger was coming from. I mean, I was angry too- getting your butt kicked and having some weird fashion model point a sword at your boyfriend will do that to you- but Nico sounded _furious_ , like he had some personal grudge with her.

“You were born in Venice in 1932 on January 28 th . Your mother was Maria di Angelo, your sister was Bianca di Angelo. She joined Artemis’s hunters and died tragically just a little while after joining. Your father is Hades, lord of the Underworld. You love Mythomagic, and keep trying to convince me that Dionysus is somehow the uber game-breaker of the game. You never give up a grudge, and you were terrified for years of anyone learning a certain secret.”

She said something else in Italian, and I saw his eyes go wide. He looked away from her, disbelief mingled with confusion on his face.

“I know that _something_ is wrong here,” she said, sounding conciliatory. “And I know you’ve always been slow to trust. I don’t blame you. We’ve got a lot in common there. But I didn’t come here to fight one of my best friends, no matter how weird he’s acting.”

She looked over at Reyna, who was gradually standing back up. “If you don’t want to be tied up like your friends, please just _talk._ I promise we don’t mean you any harm, and we just want to know what in Tartarus is going _on._ Where are we, and who are you all?”

Reyna looked over at me. I think she wanted some kind of reassurance, so I did my best to telepathically project ‘Just talk to her, she’s got us dead to rights’, and tried to convey the same with my eyebrow waggles. I got the feeling she _really_ wished Aurum and Argentum weren’t in the shop today.

I have no idea if it worked, but either way Reyna nodded, and explained that we were from Camp Half-Blood and had come investigating some strange reports about this general area. Apparently mollified, she got up and let Nico go, then had her pal Isa untie me from his little trap crossbow bolt. Her pal Katrina offered to use her powers to heal Reyna, but apparently Elektra thought that’d be too taxing on her, and just gave Reyna an ambrosia square instead. Something about how the two of them talked and looked at each other...either they were dating, or they really _needed_ to be dating.

The three strangers conferred among themselves for a few minutes, and eventually agreed to go with us to Camp Half-Blood to talk to Chiron- apparently the only name we’d dropped they recognized. The fact she didn’t even know who Percy was had to be the most confusing thing about all this besides the fact that she apparently knew Nico intimately. When I asked him what it was about, he said he had seriously never seen her before and he was as confused as the rest of us that she knew about his ‘secret’. (No idea what that was, he refused to say. I'm guessing it was the fact he used to be crazy into Mythomagic.)

We made our way back to camp without incident- which was surprising, given that six Half-Bloods in one place _definitely_ tended to attract Monsters. I noticed the guy Isa groan when he saw there was no dirt path out of the temple, as if he’d expected one. At first I was wondering how he was going to keep up, but he just pressed a button on his chair and some kind of mini-jet engines went off on the sides of the thing and turned it into a hoverchair. He needed Reyna to push it along when that happened, though. When we approached the camp, Elektra looked up at Thalia’s tree next to the Athena Parthenos. Her gaze passed over the guardian dragon, Peleus, and fell on the fleece in its branches.

“Alright, yeah, something screwy’s _definitely_ going on. We left camp this morning, and I don’t remember there being a tree with a replica of the golden fleece in it...”

I decided not to tell her it was the _real_ golden fleece, since that would just bring up further questions. “ But you _do_ remember the Athena Parthenos being there?”

She just glared at me, then sighed. “Yes, I do remember that. Quite vividly, in fact. I’d tell you _why_ , but I think at this point I should just save that sort of thing until we work out exactly what’s...happening…”

As we rounded the crest of the hill, the three strangers all gaped in shock at the camp, as though they’d never seen it before.

“There’s...were there this many buildings back in the 80s?” Elektra said, turning to her pal in the whellchair.

He shrugged. “You know I’d rather you not ask me as though I was _there_ , just because I’m obsessed with Camp History. But...yeah, there used to be 12 cabins. One for each of the Olympians.”

“Were they this...tacky?” She asked.

“Oh absolutely. Definitely this tacky.”

I really, _really_ wanted to ask them what in Tartarus they were talking about, but before I could Chiron came bounding up the hill with Argus and slowed as he approached us. Quickly, I conferred with him and explained the gist of what had happened. He stroked his chin thoughtfully as I told him about the weird temple we’d found these people in.

“Ah, and then who might you be?” He eyed the newcomers curiously.

“Chiron? You don’t recognize us?” Katrina asked, sounding heartbroken.

He tried to remain stoic, but I could tell the centaur was as utterly lost as the rest of us. “I’m sorry but, no. I do not. Who are you, young lady?”

When Katrina explained she was a daughter of Amphitrite, Chiron quirked an eyebrow but merely remarked he hadn’t _heard_ of any such daughters. She looked about ready to cry, and I _really_ wanted to give the girl a hug. I didn’t know what was going on, but I got the feeling she was having her world turned upside down.

He turned to the fellow in the wheelchair. “And you, young man?”

“Isa Avicenna, Son of Athena.” The paraplegic guy said. In hindsight, it made sense. The grey eyes, the gadgets, the suit he probably wove himself. He made sense, even if there was that teensy lingering issue of none of us ever having heard of him.

“And you, young man?” He turned to Elektra, and I could _feel_ her sudden rage wafting off of her. I started getting a sense of what her deal might be, but kept it to myself.

“Woman, Chiron. Not a man. I’m Elektra Crane.”

He nodded, and looked apologetic- though I could tell he didn’t really know what to make of this girl who looked like a temporally displaced young K.D. Lang (Hey kids, ask your parents about K.D. Lang sometime!)

“And...your divine parent?”

She scoffed. “If you don’t know who my mother is, you’re not going to believe me. I promise you that.”

“Please, if you do know then tell me what you know- or _think_ you know.” He had that edge to his tone I recognized as the one he broke out when he was dangerously close to actually getting _upset_ with someone. Hard to do with the eternally patient Chiron. “If you swear it on the River Styx, I will believe you.”

That was a pretty intense suggestion, but he was right. It wasn’t quite as surefire as Aurum and Argentum’s lie detection, but it was a pretty airtight way of making sure someone wasn’t lying.

She sighed, and pinched her brow. I got the feeling she was bracing herself for something long and thoroughly unpleasant.

“I really doubt you’ll believe me, but here goes. I swear on the River Styx that my mother is your half-sister. Hera, Queen of the Gods.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked Chapter 1. I am sorry to say that for those of you who enjoyed Will's POV, he's not the sole POV character in this story. It switches around between him, Nico, Reyna, and one of my OCs. Occasionally some other canon characters will serve as POV characters, but for the most part it's just those four. Writing in all their voices so far has probably been the most fun part of writing this story so far.
> 
> A big thing for me was capturing Riordan's snarky prose. I had just reread all the books prior to working on this (Including TKC and MCatGoA), and I felt like one of the best parts of the books (That was tragically missing in Heroes of Olympus) was that wonderful snarky first-person POV. It was really fun imagining how Will, and later some of the other major characters, would sound if they did first-person narration like Percy, Apollo, Magnus, and the Kanes do. 
> 
> As the 'series' entry notes, this is hopefully going to be the first in a long series, though to avoid leaving you guys out on a limb if something untoward should happen, I'm aiming to make each installment be more of a standalone than the canon books are. 
> 
> I'm planning to update weekly, and thankfully I have a lot of it written already so I should be able to keep that rate up just fine going forward.
> 
> And before I forget, the talented Vizz413 on Twitter did some art of Elektra (And another one of my PJO OCs)! You can check it out here! https://twitter.com/vizz413/status/1245446896161894408


	2. So He Really DOES Have an Eye on His Tongue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Yeah uh. Decided to post this one a bit sooner than originally planned. It just felt like the thing to do, since I havea very big lead here and wanted to give you more of the story. Don't expect updates THIS fast all the time going forward but, I am hoping to do it at least twice weekly updates.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy Reyna's point of view!

_Praetor’s Log,_ _May 7_ _th_ _2011, Supplemental_

The brevity of my previous report on today’s events should not be taken as an indication that the rest of the day was insignificant. In fact, I find it necessary to broaden the details of my log for the latter portion of the day beyond the normal scope I would keep it to.

After the stranger’s revelation there was an extended silence typically only found in the wake of a natural disaster or aerial bombing. She had made the utterly impossible claim that she was the Daughter of Hera, a claim that could not be true yet was backed up by being sworn on the River Styx. No-one present failed to understand the significance of that revelation, from what I could tell.

In the silence, I found myself examining her carefully, trying to read her face. Her features were androgynous, and definitely very handsome. If she had been a man, I would even say I’d find her attractive. She had high, sharp cheekbones and a powerful jawline. Her black sports coat could not conceal the strength of her shoulders, and her blue eyes seemed to meet the gaze of all who looked upon her. She was utterly unreadable, betraying no sign of unease. For some reason I found I couldn’t take my eyes out of hers, as if she was putting me under some kind of trance.

My strange reverie was broken by something almost as unexpected as her bizarre statement; Argus _spoke_.

“She is definitely Hera’s daughter. It _radiates_ off of her.” He had a surprisingly smooth voice, and briefly I wondered why he didn’t speak more often. Then I noticed the flash of white on his tongue as he spoke, and remembered the rumors of him being self-conscious about having an eyeball there.

Chiron turned to Argus, clearly trying to maintain his composure. “Well, Argus, I...I suppose you would know.”

I understood what he meant. Argus had famously been one of Hera’s most beloved servants, before Hermes bored him to death (A common occurrence, I'm led to believe). As a memorial to him, Hera allegedly had placed his many eyes in the feathers of one of her sacred animals, the peacock. Being a monster he returned to this world, yet there his eyes remained all the same.

Right now every single one of those eyes were fixed upon this girl- Elektra was her name. For some reason it had escaped my mind earlier. I vaguely recalled some myth about an Elektra, a woman who had utterly hated her mother. It struck me as an odd name for Hera of all gods to give her child, given that she was the Goddess of Motherhood.

Finally, she spoke. “Well let’s not all just stand around staring! It’s making me uncomfortable.”

Nothing about her body language said ‘uncomfortable’ to me. She looked as frustratingly calm as she had back in that strange temple. Yet she didn’t seem like she was lying.

“Look,” Elektra said, looking around at us, “Something _screwy_ is going on. You can all tell it, I know. You know I’m not lying, and Argus just verified that I’m not wrong either.”

Nobody said anything, though the black girl with the bare midriff- Katrina- turned to look at the other girl in concern. Chiron shuffled his hooves, in clear discomfort.

The blue-eyed girl broke the silence again by sighing heavily. “We’re not going to get anywhere just standing on this hill, and frankly I’m a little uncomfortable with you all treating me like I’m a nuclear bomb about to explode. None of us know what’s happened and we’re not going to figure it out by waiting for an answer to drop out of the sky. Since it doesn’t seem _any_ of us have any leads, I propose we take the time to wait for _something_ to clear itself up.”

When nobody said anything, she continued without missing a beat. “Also, can we get some dinner? My friends and I had been wandering in the woods for about eight hours before these three found us. We’d like something to eat and some assurance you aren’t going to kill us on the grounds of ‘Being vaguely sketchy’. Does that sound reasonable to you, Master Chiron?”

I had to admit the girl was persuasive. I’d hesitate to call her smooth, or charismatic, but there was something compelling about the way she laid everything out objectively like that. Nothing she said was wrong, and it resonated with me; too often lately we’d let suspicion define our actions, and it had _never_ worked out well for us. She had an aura of queenly command about her that at once cowed and soothed when she spoke.

Chiron took it all in, and he was plainly taken aback. No Half-Bloods talked like that to Chiron, not even the ones he knew well. For a complete stranger to do it was probably as surreal as everything else going on today.

“Very well, Ms. Crane. You and your friends may eat at the Dining Pavilion, though we only have a few snacks available, as we only have full meals ready for breakfast and dinner, the latter of which is in a few hours. I would prefer if you keep the exact details of your arrival here and most of all your _ancestry_ a secret, known only by those present right now. For the time being, you may stay in Cabin #2, Hera’s Cabin. Your fellows will stay in Hermes Cabin, as is the standard for unclaimed demigods. Few questions will be asked of them that way. Is that understood?”

She nodded, and smiled politely. “We will be the very _soul_ of discretion, Master Chiron. Come on, guys. Let’s hope their cabins is better than _our_ Camp Half-Blood’s.”

Before they got very far, Elektra turned and looked right at me. “Oh, would you mind escorting us, Praetor? I don’t think I know this camp’s layout very well. The Camp Half-Blood I’m used to is a bit...smaller.”

I looked at Chiron, and he nodded. I then turned to Will and Nico, who were already clearly ready to head off to Cabin #13 to have some kind of private conversation. Inwardly I felt uneasy about this, but I couldn’t tell _why_ . Nothing about this girl was really particularly untrustworthy, and she had been very polite to me. Something _else_ about her was...affecting me. I didn’t like it.

Nevertheless, I agreed and led them to the dining pavilion. As Chiron had noted, it was in between lunchtime and dinner, but that was good since we were trying to keep the nature of their arrival a secret. There wasn’t much food available at the serving tables, and no-one to serve it, but I wasn’t about to complain.

I noticed that Isa kept to halal foods, which combined with his name suggested he was Muslim. The girl Katrina was less picky, and while she showed a distinct preference for what seafood was there I didn’t see much reason to read into that. It was Elektra who was most curious to me; despite her claims of being famished she mostly just looked dissapointed at the selection of food available, and took very little. Of what she did have, she ate even less.

“I’m never going to find a place that actually has more than three things I can eat, am I?” She said, looking sadly at her hot dog, some chips, and some apple slices.

I took a chance. “Are you under some kind of dietary restriction?”

She looked and me and scoffed, then shook her head. “No. Just autistic. My trade off for not being dyslexic, I guess.”

That was interesting. “I’d never heard of any demigods being autistic, before. If you don’t mind me saying so-”

She cut me off. “I don’t _seem_ autistic? I get that a lot. It comes from a lot of training, a lot of practice, and a lot of unpleasantness.”

I didn’t like how she said unpleasantness, and I got the feeling she had ghosts of her own that still haunted her. I could empathize. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I _do_ have ADD though,” she said, grinning, “Oh and a few other problems...post-traumatic stress disorder I think is the big one. Would you say that’s the big one, Isa?”

The boy looked up from some book and sighed, then nodded. “Yes, I would say that’s _probably_ your biggest problem besides the whole ‘being autistic’ thing. Well that and your massive ego.”

“How could I forget,” she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm, “And that’s cutting coming from you, Master of Humility.”

He smiled for the first time since I’d met him. “I don’t see _you_ being proclaimed ‘Greatest Mortal Weaver to Ever Live’.”

Katrina rolled her eyes. “They’re _always_ like this, Praetor. It’s in- _sufferable_ .” She drew out the word, and her accent made it sound so...something. Unlike Elektra, she was very _classically_ beautiful. I would’ve been blind not to notice it. I didn’t really know why I was staring so much at her abs, though. They were impressive, the sort one got from a great deal of general exercise instead of crunching all day to sculpt them. Swimming, perhaps; she had the build of an Olympic swimmer, like Percy did.

I tried to tell a joke. “Maybe they should just kiss and get it over with.”

Elektra and Isa both stopped their bickering and stared at me, Elektra raising an eyebrow. “ _Definitely_ not happening anytime soon, even if he paid me.”

Something in her tone suggested she was actually _deeply_ uncomfortable with the suggestion. “I didn’t mean to offend. You two just friends?”

Isa waved his hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “Friends is a bit strong, but I guess you could say that.”

“Allies!” Elektra said brightly.

“Acquaintances?” Isa supplied.

“Party members.” Katrina said, grinning. The other two laughed, and I felt like I missed some kind of private joke.

“Besides,” Isa said, sipping from his glass of water, “She’s a lesbian.”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s the bigger obstacle than you just being a huge jerk. It’d be cute, if you were a girl.” She grinned, and shot a glance over at Katrina, who smiled fondly back at her.

The display was definitely provoking some kind of reaction in me, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I wasn’t offended, of course. Though it wasn’t really a classically Roman ideal- that was exclusive to male relationships, and only between those of differing social statuses- homosexuality was largely accepted at Camp Jupiter. From what I could tell Camp Half-Blood had an even more tolerant attitude on the subject. I felt an odd fluttering in my stomach all the same, and a pang of something else I couldn’t place. Probably because it was something I was unused to, and I felt a bit awkward.

I think Katrina read it on my face. “That’s not a problem, is it? That we’re together and, you know...both girls?”

I shook my head, perhaps a bit _too_ quickly. “No, it’s no issue. One of the counselors here is bisexual, and there’s some other gay campers. Oh, and the current Centurion of one of the cohorts over at Camp Jupiter is a lesbian.” I recalled the somewhat-eccentric Lavinia Asimov and the ongoing drama of her relationship with a forest nymph. Not any kind of drama as in, people had an issue with it, just that it all sounded like some kind of particularly bizarre _telenovela_ to me.

Elektra chuckled. “Well good, I’d hate to have to change everyone’s minds all over again.”

I frowned. “What...exactly happened to you, before now?”

The three of them exchanged some enigmatic looks. They seemed to have mastered the same nonverbal communication that was so crucial to my ability to coordinate with Nico. Elektra spoke again, steepling her hands in front of her as she did so.

“Given everything I think it’s best if I hold off on saying too much? Right now I’m not sure what’s going on, and frankly it’ll all sound too wild for you to take in.”

I frowned, and knitted my brow. “I’d like to know _something_ at least. You being the Daughter of Hera is unlikely to be topped by anything else.”

Elektra took a deep, steadying breath. “Alright then. I’m from Camp Half-Blood, but that Camp in no way resembles this one in layout. This one _looks_ like that one did before a certain incident destroyed most of the buildings and led to the deaths of most of the campers back in the early 90s. That one is still recovering even decades later, and only has a few cabins instead of one for each god.”

She continued. “There I’m the _Strategos_. I’m not sure who’s Strategos here, or if you even have the same hierarchy.”

I briefly considered it. It sounded like a vaguely familiar term, but I’d never heard it used in reference to anyone at Camp Half-Blood. “No, I don’t believe they have one here.”

“Right then. So, Chiron seems to be in charge here, yes?”

“He is the Camp’s Activities Director. I suppose he is _effectively_ in charge, since they haven’t appointed anyone to replace Bac-, um, I mean, Mr. D.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Activities Director? Like...this was a summer camp?”

There was something familiar in her incredulity. I had said similar things after Terra had been defeated, and I could actually take in the uniquely _informal_ atmosphere of the Greek camp. “Yes, they run Camp Half-Blood like a largely ordinary summer camp. Is it different for you?”

She nodded. “It’s more of a training camp and a place to keep Half-Bloods _safe_ . Our facilities are a _lot_ more spartan and practical, and the main focus is on combat training over anything else. This one doesn’t have the fortifications ours does, and to be frank with the lack of patrols I’m a bit nervous some monster is going to attack.”

I pointed to Thalia’s Tree up on Half-Blood Hill, next to the Athena Parthenos I’d worked so hard to bring here. “That tree, over there? It protects this Camp from Monsters.”

“Well that’s...neat.” She sounded distinctly nonplussed by the explanation.

I had to admit, it was a bit alien to me, too. Camp Jupiter’s main defense, the Little Tiber, was more of a practical geographic defense than _that_. Our main magical protection came from the god Terminus and from our own force of arms, which seemed much more solid and tangible than the magic circle surrounding Camp Half-Blood.

“Right, so we just have, you know...a wall. Like a regular wall made of stone, surrounding most of the camp? We have patrols on it, though with the small population that’s not a lot of people at any given time. It has some magical enchantments from the few children of Hekate we have, but they only do what they can.”

Briefly, I was confused. She pronounced ‘Hecate’ like ‘EY-kah-tay’ when most people either pronounced it ‘HECK-it’ or more often ‘HECK-ah-tee’. It took me a moment to parse who she was referring to.

Isa sighed. “Elektra, nobody cares that you know how the gods’ names are ‘really’ pronounced, you know that right? You’re just confusing her!”

“I’m _actually_ Greek, unlike most of you! I’m not comfortable with all this random half-consistent Anglicization!”

“My step-mom’s _actually_ Greek. _You’re_ Italian. Italian-American, at that, not even proper Italian like Nico is.”

“I’m _Southern_ Italian, you know- _Magna Graecia?_ _M_ y step-family’s surname was _Greco_ for a reason!”

Katrina raised her hands and let out a groan. “Are you trying to make this a hobby? Quit it you two!”

They both stopped immediately, and I let out a sigh of relief I didn’t know I’d been holding back. I gave Katrina a nod of silent thanks, then turned to Elektra. “So...step-family. Did your mother not raise you herself?”

She laughed bitterly. “Oh that is a tale and a _half_ , Praetor. Honestly, it’s too much to get into right now."

  
  
That was coming up a LOT lately. I was beginning to wonder if I was _ever_ going to get any answers on these strange visitors.

  
  
She continued. "Suffice to say they weren’t terribly good people, and whatever else is going on they’re dead as far as I know. And I’m glad for it.”

That definitely put me on edge, but Katrina shot me a glance that seemed to say ‘Please, don’t ask about it.’ I took the hint, and just nodded. After that, the conversation drifted into more comfortably mundane topics. I learned a great deal about Elektra’s two companions. Isa’s surname was _Avicenna_ , apparently the Latinized name of a famous Muslim philosopher that his father had honored by changing his own surname to it. Isa was a son of Athena, as was obvious, and his main passion was textile engineering. It was interesting to me; that seemed like the kind of thing that would come naturally to a Child of Minerva, if she’d had any, but Athena’s children were all more warlike or interested in some other form of engineering. What’s more, his father was a lawyer with some focus on civil rights, and not a scholar like was apparently typical for the men and women Athena dallied with. It made sense, though, as Athena had been a goddess of Law and was quite proud of the Athenian legal code.

Katrina’s story was much more exotic, and frankly had it not been for Elektra’s unlikely parentage overshadowing it I would’ve found her story utterly unbelievable. Apparently Amphitrite had courted a mortal woman named Sarah Roman, an author from York, England. I don’t know where that is, but I had to assume it was somewhere coastal and sunny. She had managed to impregnate Sarah (A detail that was necessary, since otherwise I wasn’t sure if I would consider Sarah Roman a ‘mother’ per se) and she had offered the Mortal woman to live with her in Atlantis, where she’d build her a palace they could be together in and safely raise Katrina. As they explained, Poseidon had no issue at all with this, and Elektra in particular was amused at my shock when Katrina told me how close she was with her step-father. The term ‘polyamory’ was thrown around a few times, though the definition seemed a bit unclear to me.

The fact Katrina had never even heard of Percy Jackson despite being close with his father only reinforced the sense something was deeply wrong here, however. They freely admitted that they had _never_ heard of him, or me. This latter fact was more interesting to Elektra, because earlier she had claimed the title of _Legata_ , the feminine form of _Legatus_ , a title the Legion did not currently use in any capacity. I didn’t want to press the issue, however, since as Elektra had earlier said, it was a confusing enough issue. The fact she consistently referred to me as ‘Praetor’ and not ‘Reyna’ suggested an understanding of the importance of rank to Camp Jupiter however.

Eventually, well after they’d actually finished their snacks, the four of us got up and walked around the camp. I showed them the cabins, and Katrina took a particular interest in Poseidon’s cabin (‘Oh yeah, that’s _definitely_ my step-dad’s style. Very tastefully tacky.’)

When we came upon Cabin #2, Hera’s Cabin, Elektra paused and inspected it. From the furrowing of her brow I could see she wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was a beautifully designed cabin, clearly designed not to be overshadowed by Zeus’s Cabin #1 right next to it. Where Zeus’s cabin was stark white in the way that the ruins of Greece and Rome had become over the centuries, Hera’s cabin maintained an intricate carved design of peacocks decorating its front. The columns were slim and graceful, covered in pomegranates and flowers.

“Why a cabin, if there’s no children of Hera at this camp?”

“To honor her, I am told. In Camp Jupiter-”

She cut me off yet again. “You don’t divide people by parentage, but you _do_ have temples. As I recall, Juno’s has a nice view of the Little Tiber?”

I nodded. “You seem quite familiar with our camp.”

“I spent a good deal of time there,” she shrugged, then held a hand to the door, “Are we allowed to go inside?”

I considered it. I didn’t really know the rules about entering Cabins that one didn’t live in oneself at Camp Half-Blood, but it didn’t _seem_ like it was a problem. Besides, if she really _was_ a Child of Hera this was to be where she slept.

“It should be fine.” I finally said, and she opened the door. I felt a cold breeze blow out, and was taken aback. Inside the Cabin was _nothing_. Just six columns supporting the roof, and a single burning brazier in the middle right before an enormous statue of Hera.

Elektra stepped inside, and I followed her. Katrina and Isa seemed to stay behind, perhaps uncomfortable with the idea of entering a sanctuary dedicated to Hera.

Her blue eyes surveyed the dark, cold sanctuary. At first I expected horror, or dismay, or frustration. Instead, she threw her head back and laughed uproariously. “Beautiful on the outside, cold and empty on the inside? It’s perfect! Just like my mother!”

I frowned. “I admit I’ve not had the best experience with Juno, but as I understand it she’s the Goddess of Motherhood. Wouldn’t-”

Once again she cut me off. “-She be a good mother? I don’t know, ask my big brother Hephaestus how that worked out for him.”

The brazier roared up briefly, a sign of a god’s awareness of their name being spoken. Somehow, I got the feeling it was less in anger than in agreement. I was aware that Vulcan- Hephaestus, as the Greeks called him- had been cast off of Olympus by Hera for being ugly as a child. I wondered if there had been some similar problem with Elektra, some issue from birth that had created a divide between them.

I processed the information. “Do you intend to sleep here, tonight? I know Chiron said you had to but, I’m sure other accommodations could be made.”

She gave me an incredulous look. “Well I mean it _is_ very appealing; cold despite being S ummer and a roaring fire, unlit except for an eternal flame _just_ bright enough to get in the way of sleep, and oh yes, no beds. Yes, definitely a place I’d like to sleep.”

I cringed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think...”

Elektra laughed. She had a really _cute_ laugh. A kind of awkward snort that you could tell most people would be embarrassed by. (Why was I blushing. She just _laughed,_ I shouldn’t be _that_ embarrassed.)

Regardless of how much I may or may not have been blushing, she spoke. “No, seriously. I’ll make it...livable.” With a casual flick of the wrist, a wave of multicolored light flew out of her hand, like all the cooler colors of the rainbow concentrated in a single incandescent tide. It flowed around the cold and barren room, and quickly everything _changed_ . The cold , sterile white- tiled floor was replaced with elegant peacock-themed tiles. The single brazier seemed to fission and send itself across the room, reforming itself as a collection of what looked like old-fashioned oil lamps across the room. In the center of the room, the statue of Hera morphed and was pushed backwards into the wall opposite from the front door, where it became a mosaic of Hera and her greatest accomplishments- helping Zeus in the fight with Typhon (Which I was fairly certain she _hadn’t_ actually done, but I wasn’t going to criticize), placing the eyes on the feathers of the peacock, being carried across a river by the original Jason, and so on.

In the middle of the room, where the statue had once stood, there was also now a plush queen-sized bed. It looked like it would be _absurdly_ comfortable to sleep in, with silk sheets, a warm woolen cover that had been pulled back for the summer, and nicely stuffed pillows.

“And it’s peacock feather pillows, of course. Nothing less for my mother.” Immediately, Elektra sauntered over to the newly made bed and lay down on it without even taking her shoes off, folding her hands behind her head. “Ahhhh...that’s the stuff.”

“So you...that was _amazing_. Was that magic?!”

Elektra looked up at her in momentary confusion, and then laughed. “Right, you’ve never met a demigod child of Hera before...not that there have _been_ any before. While I can’t tell if it’s just me or all of us, one ability I got from my mother is control over the domestic sphere. That means instant home cooked meals, instant interior redecorating, cleaning up any messes with a snap of the finger...that sort of thing.”

While Reyna was still surprised Hera was her mother, she no longer doubted it. “Honestly I’m...jealous. That’s _insanely_ useful.”

Elektra chuckled. “I know! I love it! It’s always been convenient. Mind you I still do the basic stuff myself. You know, making the bed, cleaning up daily. Gives shape to the day to have a schedule, and it helps to keep me from getting lazy. All the same, when I don’t have _time_ to do things, or if it’d save me money? Yeah, domestic magic is extremely handy.”

To pass the time, she quizzed me on various things related to the ancient stories of the gods of Olympus. Again and again I was surprised by how _deep_ her knowledge was, and what many of the different stories probably suggest- occasionally putting in details here or there to show what her actual experiences with the gods had hinted. I had taken a seat in one of a few chairs she’d conjured out of thing air, and found myself...relaxing. Strange. It wasn’t really something I was very used to, feeling so calm. Yet here I was, sitting with another girl and just having a nice conversation about something she found interesting- and the more she talked, the more interested _I_ was, too. Eventually she did kick off her shoes and toss off her shirt, stripping down to the tank top and sports bra she had on underneath. She was wiry and muscular, and had an interesting tattoo on her right arm; a double-headed axe. I recognized it as an ancient Greek symbol known as a _labrys_ , which had some significance I couldn’t quite place.

After a good deal of talking, I realized that it was getting _late_. Normally most of us went to bed not too long after dinner anyway, so I was ready to get up and head elsewhere.

“Hey,” she said, looking at me curiously, “Where do you sleep?”

“Usually in Hermes Cabin, since I’m a traveler. They don’t have enough bunks for everyone, so I usually sleep on the floor. Why?”

She motioned to the bed. “It’s big enough for two girls, and very comfortable. Seems unfair that you have to sleep on the _floor_ , you know?” Her tone was soothing, almost a purr. She didn’t sound like she was trying to pressure me, or insinuate anything.

For reasons I cannot fully explain, I immediately ran out the door, Elektra calling out for me in dismay as I did so. I felt tears stinging my eyes. I didn’t like where this was going, at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was certainly...something. 
> 
> Some of you might think that Reyna being so thoroughly oblivious seems a bit odd. If so, I think that those of you either are too young to remember how different the early 2010s were from now, or just don't WANT to remember. Not to mention Reyna hasn't exactly had a background that would lead to one having a deep and broad awareness of LGBTQI+ issues...
> 
> That said, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to sending you the next one (Featuring [Redacted] as our POV character! Isn't that exciting?)
> 
> Arrivaderci!


	3. From Here to Camp Half-Blood

Piper’s Weirdness Journal, Entry # 35 May 8th, 2011

So I don’t normally do the whole diary thing, unless we’re on a quest or something. Thankfully, we haven’t been on any since Gaea was destroyed. 

Well ok, there was that incident with Coach Hedge, the three refrigerators, and Zephyrus, but that’s all bygones now. I hope. 

Anyway, today, something really interesting happened so I felt like writing it down. Not like, weird enough to really be freaky or worrying, but interesting kinda weird. 

Jason and I were just, you know, heading back from some minor scouting mission just outside the camp. Yep. A scouting mission. Took us a long time, too, and we were pretty exhausted. By the time we had finished with...scouting, it had been a couple of days. We’d already eaten breakfast that morning, so instead of heading over the dining pavilion to maybe snag some leftovers from breakfast, we headed over to a nice spot down on the beach with the supplies for a picnic. 

When we got there, though, we saw we weren’t alone. 

Sitting further down the beach was Nico di Angelo. Looking relaxed. Wearing just a pair of black swim shorts. It was weird. He didn’t seem uneasy about being in the sun, either, despite being so pale. Then again he was Italian...maybe he’d get the pigmentation he lost in Tartarus back, if he spent time in the sun? 

Sitting next to him, also in a pair of swim trunks (White, in his case. Those two were so unsubtle) was Will Solace, looking amazing as always. I always liked Will, and I remember the sheer joy that had filled Aphrodite Cabin when him and Nico got together. I don’t want to take all the credit, but I did have a bit of a hand in getting them to finally start being open about being a couple.

They were sitting together on a pair of beach chairs, Nico looking really atypically relaxed in the sun and Will soaking up some rays while chatting his head off about something or other. As it was, nothing unusual, and Jason and I both doubted they’d mind us making it a double date- plus we could just leave if they didn’t want us there. 

When we approached though, we saw they weren’t alone. Sitting not too far away from them was a guy in a wheelchair, who was fiddling with a laptop. I didn’t recognize him, but he had the kind of furrowed brow that just screamed ‘Athena Kid’. 

Playing in the surf nearby were two more people I didn’t recognize. One really caught my eye; a gorgeous girl with very dark skin in a very flattering aquamarine bikini who swam and pulled off some aquatic stunts that seemed a little too convenient. Here and there it seemed like she had dove under for longer than most people could hold their breath, and a lot of her flips and tricks reminded me of some of the stunts I’d seen Percy pull when he was in the water. Did he have a secret half-sister or something? 

Swimming in the water a bit less naturally (Though ut still impressively) was another person. They were pale-skinned and had dark hair. At first I thought it was a guy, but something about the haircut really made me think she was a very butch girl, probably a lesbian. (I’m not trying to stereotype here. In fact, some of the lesbians in Aphrodite cabin have told me they legit hate it when people just think their hair or fashion is meant to look ‘cool’.) She was wearing a black swim shirt and a pair of black swim trunks. Also, she had on this cool pair of sunglasses that looked designed to be worn while swimming. 

Will noticed us first. When we approached, he looked over and waved. 

“Hey, guys! How’d the scouting mission go?”

I looked over at Jason, and he blushed. He’s so freaking cute sometimes.

I smirked and looked back over at Will. “Well we discovered a lot of new positions around the camp, that’s for sure.”

Nico let out a groan. I think he wasn’t a fan of scouting, that must’ve been it.

Will just laughed, and motioned for us to sit down near Solangelo (Look I call them by their ship name, sometimes. It’s Aphrodite Cabin culture, deal with it.) . We laid out our own towel near them, and sat in the sun.

“Who’re your new friends?” Jason said, motioning over to the strangers in the surf.

“Oh, them?” Will said, laughing, “They’re new.”

He pointed over to Isa. “He’s Isa. Isa, how about you introduce yourself?”

The boy in the wheelchair made a noise halfway between a grunt and a snarl. He sounded a bit like he really, really didn’t want to be here. Briefly, I wondered what he was doing on that laptop there. That kind of stuff was unreliable at best here in Camp Half-Blood. 

“Fine,” he said, turning over to me, “I’m Isa Avicenna. A Son of Athena. I’m smart, and I have to get dragged to a freaking beach so I can cook in the sun.”

I laughed awkwardly. Dude clearly didn’t want to talk, so I wasn’t going to press. I turned over to Will. “And the other two?”

He looked at the two girls, who were coming in from the sea. As soon as they were out of the water, they wrapped themselves up in each others’ arms and started making out. 

I couldn’t help it, I smiled. Both because it was cute, and because inwardly I was thinking Called it! Still though, seriously, it was always nice seeing other queer kids being comfortable being together in public. Yeah, I said other queer kids. I’m bi, I’m with Jason and I’ve never dated another girl but that doesn’t mean I don’t still love girls. 

Uh, anyway, eventually they stopped making out (Boooo) and walked over to us. 

“Girls, feel like introducing yourselves to Piper and Jason here?”

The dark-skinned girl looked at Jason and her jaw dropped, and I saw the girl in the wheelchair briefly sit up straight like he’d been startled by something. The girl with the sunglasses just looked a bit curiously at Jason and me, and smiled.

“Hi, Jason. I’m Elektra Crane. It’s nice to meet you.” She extended a hand to Jason, who eagerly stepped over and shook it. 

“Nice to meet you too! And uh, your girlfriend’s name? I mean, I don’t want to assume she’s your girlfriend, but...” He trailed off deliberately, an uncharacteristically wry smile on his face.

Elektra chuckled. “Well honey, you heard him. Tell Jason your name.”

The girl in the bikini just stared at him for a moment, before apparently regaining her composure. “I’m uh, I’m Katrina Roman? You remember...I mean, you don’t remember. Definitely don’t remember meeting me, right.”

That was weird. This girl was acting really weirdly around Jason, like she was expecting him to burst into flames at any moment or turn into a Monster. 

“Something wrong?” He asked, asking the obvious question. 

Katrina shook her head and just chuckled. “No I just uh, mistook you for someone else I knew.”

The girl in the shades put a hand on her shoulder. “I think she’s mixing you up with this other Jason we knew. Blonde guy, kinda...handsome? You’re handsome, right? I can’t tell with boys.”

Jason blushed a bit and rubbed the back of his head. “Uh so I’m told. Right, Piper?” 

I shrugged. “I mean, I guess so. You’re alright.” 

He chuckled. “Ok, ok, point taken. Anyway, yeah uh, that makes sense.”

“Right,” Katrina said, “He uh. He died recently. It was like seeing a ghost, you know?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, I think I get that. Really sorry about your friend. He was a friend, right?”

Elektra nodded, and looked at Jason somberly. I couldn’t really see her eyes through the shades, but I could sense deep sadness there about something. “He was a good friend. He deserved a longer life, honestly.”

We all took seats, the girls cuddled up together on another towel on the other side of Solangelo (Hmmm, what ship name for the two girls. Romane? Elektrina? Definitely worth consideration). The three of us chatted, though I felt really awkward about how Isa was just off by himself. I mean, not that he needed to be with some cute girl or guy, just that he seemed to not be having a great time out here in the sun. Once, I sneaked a glance at his screen. He looked like he was working on some kind of 3D-model of...some kind of vehicle. It looked pretty weird to me, like a lunar rover on steroids. 

Apparently the girls were both unclaimed, though both of them said they had a good idea who their parents were. They were kinda tight-lipped about it, though. I could get that. A lot of kids had tough relationships with their parents, and it was pretty clear to me that Elektra in particular had been really badly hurt, based on how she talked about her Mortal parents whenever the topic came up. Nico kept glaring at her, like there was something going on there I didn’t know about. I’d normally chalk that kind of glare up to sexual tension but well...mutually incompatible orientations would get in the way of that. 

After a while, Isa got bored and headed off to Hermes Cabin, or some other place he could sit and work on whatever. His wheelchair did this cool thing where these miniature jet engine things popped out of the sides and lifted him up over the sand, and then a little jet propelled him up the way back to Camp. 

The blissful Spring day was eventually broken up by the sound of dinner bells ringing (Wow we’d been on the beach all day.) and the lot of us headed up to our respective cabins to get changed and stuff. 

When I headed over to the dining pavilion, though, I got intercepted by Argus. He pointed to the Big House, and then did a little sign I knew to mean “Counselors’ Meeting”. I was kind of confused and definitely worried because that kind of thing usually only comes up is something bad just happened. 

Couldn’t we go like, one full year without a crisis around here? 

I headed over to the Big House, meeting up with Jason along the way. When we got there, we saw Will and Nico sitting on the porch talking about something before shutting up real fast when they saw us approach. I decided not to ask what that was about, probably none of my business. 

We went on inside, and there I saw all the other counselors that were currently at camp; aside from me, Will, Jason, and Nico, a few others. First I noticed was Elektra, who was seated next to Argus and talking to him about something. That was odd, if she was unclaimed then why was she here? 

Aside from her and the boys I knew, there was Miranda Gardiner for the Demeter Cabin, Malcolm Pace for the Athena Cabin, Connor Stoll for Hermes Cabin, Pollux for Dionysus Cabin, the Victor twins for Nike Cabin, Lou Ellen for Hecate Cabin, Clovis for Hypnos Cabin, and well...a bunch of other people I didn’t recognize. 

There were too many cabins, honestly. Then again, having not enough cabins was a big part of what had caused the Titan War so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

As I took my seat next to Jason, I noticed one very familiar face was missing. The counselor for Hephaestus cabin. 

“Where’s Leo?” I asked, looking around in confusion. Last I could remember, he had returned to camp a couple months back with his new girlfriend, Calypso. That had really come right out of nowhere. I mean, I was glad to see him but, he had known Calypso for like, what? A week? Seemed pretty contrived, if you asked me. For the longest time I was convinced she’d used Charmspeak on him or something, but nope! He was apparently madly in love with the formerly-immortal former-sorceress. 

“He left camp while you and Jason were out on your scouting mission,” Chiron noted, “He and Calypso rode Festus out to investigate some strange goings-on not too far from the Camp.”

I quirked my head. “Oookay. A bit vague, but...alright. It’s weird he didn’t tell us...” 

“I am sorry, Ms. McLean. I instructed him to move with utmost urgency, as this was a matter of a...suspicious nature. It is something that I would like to discuss tonight, actually.”

He looked over at Elektra, who met his gaze. For a moment I thought there was some kind of tension between them, but when I looked closer I could tell it was something else. They were studying each other, like they were unsure what to make of the other. At least, I thought that was what was going on; Elektra had a really hard to read face. Like, it never seemed to change expression except when she was clearly reacting to something or saying something. Like she was doing it all manually instead of automatically like the rest of us.

“The first order of business is the matter of Ms. Crane, here. Her arrival yesterday afternoon was the cause of some confusion and concern for myself and Argus. If you would like to explain why, Ms. Crane?”

She nodded, and took a deep breath. “So I have the distinct impression that none of you are going to believe me, which is okay. It’s a hard thing to believe, given what I know about what you guys have all been through these past few decades.”

“It concerns my divine parent. I’m the Daughter of Hera, Queen of Olympus.”

I heard Lou Ellen gasp, and Miranda scoff. Connor just quirked his head, like he couldn’t tell what the big deal was. Pollux’s jaw dropped, and Jason…

Well I heard Jason mutter something in Latin he’d told me not to repeat, once, so I won’t here.

“You...you can’t be!” Miranda stammered out. “That’s impossible! Hera wouldn’t have an affair, Zeus would go ballistic!”

“More to the point,” Pollux said, rubbing at his arm nervously, “It’s completely against her nature. She’s the goddess of marriage. Her having an affair is like...like...”

“Like Aphrodite taking an oath of celibacy?” I offered up.

Pollux blushed. “Yeah, uh...like that.”

Elektra nodded. “That’s the part where this just gets more confusing. See, I’m not illegitimate, like most of you. Hera married my father, who was a Mortal- though a Demigod, if what I’ve been led to believe is true.”

Lou spoke up. “That makes even less sense. How could Hera be married to someone when she’s married to Zeus? The ancient Greeks sometimes practiced polygamy, but not polyandry...”

I was going to ask what the heck either of those words meant, but Elektra spoke up before I could. “I’m aware. So...you’re just not going to believe the next part, if I’m honest. I’d rather not even say it.”

“How do we know you’re not lying? For the gods’ sakes, why would we think you’re not lying!” Miranda wasn’t usually this passionate. I got the feeling it was less from anger or anything than it was confusion. She wasn’t a super paranoid person, in fact she was one of the chillest people I know, usually. 

Butch Walker, Counselor for Iris cabin, spoke up. “I uh...isn’t Reyna here? Couldn’t she like, use her dogs to tell if she’s lying?” 

“No need,” said a voice I didn’t recognize. It took me a moment to realize it was Argus, who I’d never heard speak before. “I can tell. She’s at least half-Hera.”

We all stared at him, but nobody spoke. Honestly, nobody was going to question Argus on this. I vaguely remembered something about him and Hera, so maybe he was an expert on this? Either way though, if it motivated him to speak it had to be important. 

“Thanks, Argus. So, look...there’s a lot that’s screwy that’s going on. I have no more idea than the rest of you, and my two friends Katrina and Isa don’t know any more than me. I’d love to answer all your questions, but if I did that we’d probably be stuck in here all year.”

“My intent,” Chiron began, sounding a bit frustrated, “Had been to contact the Lady Hera and ask her to please clarify this matter as best she could. Unfortunately, all my attempts to contact her have been stymied.”

“Iris Network down?” Jason asked, sounding concerned.

Chiron shook his head. “No, I was able to reach Olympus just fine. But when I did, well...I was told by some official- a minor god even I don’t recall having heard of before named ‘Stacy’- that nearly all of the 12 Gods of Olympus have gone off on missions elsewhere, and are all occupied.”

“Nearly?” I asked. 

“Yes...the exception being Zeus. As you can understand, I do not think it would be...prudent, to ask him about the origins of Ms. Crane here.”

Elektra pulled off her shades and pinched her brow. “I appreciate that, Chiron. As do all my composite atoms, who would surely be crushed out of existence within seconds of my uncle learning about all this. 

Ew. Just got a reminder that Hera and Zeus were also siblings in addition to husband and wife. Not something I liked thinking about.

Chiron leaned onto the table, looking at the gathered counselors. “So for the time being, we must decide; what do we do?”  
  
A long, drawn out silence ensued. Eventually, it was broken by Connor suggesting that we just pretend Elektra was Zeus’s daughter, complete with pun about ‘Electricity’. This somehow managed to seriously offend her, and the girl went into a tirade about the origins of her name. (I learned far more than I’d wanted to about Greek etymology that day, let me tell you. Including what the word ‘etymology’ means.)

In the end, no major consensus was agreed upon, beyond ‘Just kind of hope things sort themselves out’, since we really didn’t have anything to work with here. It was almost refreshing, actually. Not having any kind of prophecy or anything else. Just, sit around and see what happens. 

Alright, so that about sums up today’s weirdness. Piper, out!


End file.
